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Odd-looking extras sought for Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' series | TribLIVE.com
Movies/TV

Odd-looking extras sought for Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' series

Chris Pastrick
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New Line Productions
Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and Sean Astin in a scene from Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

Are you less than attractive? Maybe have a wonky eye? Maybe no eye at all?

Well, your big break may have just arrived.

The Wall Street Journal reports the Auckland, N.Z.-based BGT Actors Models and Talent is on the hunt for odd-looking extras to be a part of Amazon’s new “The Lord of the Rings” series.

In a video posted to YouTube, BGT director Sarah Valentine describes the kind of people they’re looking for.

“Wrinkles, teeth missing, wonky eye, no eye, glass eye, can you take your eye out,” she says. “If you’ve got limbs missing. Are you an amputee? Do you have one leg?”

Amazon’s series is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels. Just like Peter Jackson’s movies, the show is set in mythical Middle-earth and features elves and orcs.

The odder looking the better it seems.

The description on the YouTube video calls for “Character faces, wrinkles and lots of them please” and “hairy hairy people of all ages and ethnicities.”

Justin Smith is a 41-year-old New Zealand truck driver. He told the Journal he might just be perfect for the part of an odd extra.

“I’ve got more than missing teeth, I’ve got none,” Smith said. “Basically I’m short, I’ve got red hair and I’ve got missing teeth.”

He said he’s currently waiting for a callback.

The talent agency is also looking for “stocky mean-looking bikers,” “Eurasian people of all ages,” “Hispanic — Latino, Mexican, South American,” and “red heads all ages, shapes and sizes.”

The first episode of the series from Amazon, which declined to comment to the Journal, is set to debut in 2021.

Chris Pastrick is a TribLive digital producer. An Allegheny County native, he began working for the Valley News Dispatch in 1993 and joined the Trib in 1997. He can be reached at cpastrick@triblive.com.

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Categories: AandE | Movies/TV
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